SWEET and juicy, luscious and colourful summerfruit fruit are the hallmarks of the Australian Summerfruit industry which produces more than 100,000 MT of peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots between October and March.

Nectarines and plums are the main Summerfruits exported from Australia. As a relatively smaller and high quality producer and exporter of summerfruit, Australian growers are gaining a reputation as quality niche market suppliers.

The first of the season fruits are Low Chill varieties of nectarines and peaches produced in warmer climates and harvested from October to December. The High Chill varieties of nectarines and peaches are available from early December through to late March and harvested in southern states of Australia in the Goulburn Valley and Swan Hill regions in Victoria, Batlow in New South Wales and southern parts of Western Australia and South Australia’s Riverland region. Extensive plantings of new varieties of white and yellow flesh peaches and nectarines have provided exciting new products with both taste and shelf life that enables the industry to meet consumer demands in northern markets.

Western Australia’s moist south west is acclaimed for its newer plum varieties complementing the Swan Hill and Young production regions with sweet taste sensations for January to March customers. Extending the availability of apricots from the production areas around Swan Hill and Renmark with fruit from December to January, apricot production is also expanding in the famously pristine climate in Tasmania providing fruit through to March.

Positioned in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia is well placed to provide counter seasonal fresh summerfruit to complement northern producers and help keep customers supplied through the northern winter.

Table 2 Summerfruit Main Export Varieties

Main Export Varieties

Nectarines: Spring Bright, RedGold, Fantasia, Summer Fire, August Red, Fairlane, Arctic Sweet, Arctic Rose, Bright Pearl, Fire Pearl, Arctic Queen, Arctic Snow

Peaches: Flordagold, Rich Lady, Elegant Lady, Zee Lady, O’Henry, Fairtime/Summerset, Golden Queen, Warby Gold, White Lady, Summer Sweet, Fragar, Snow King

Plums: Santa Rosa, Black Amber, Fortune, Laroda, Friar, Amber Jewel, Ausibelle, Moyer, D’Agen, Tegan Blue, Angeleno, Autumn Giant

Table 3 Summerfruit Major Growing Regions

Major Growing Regions

Table 4 Summerfruit Packaging

Packaging

Australian summerfruit is exported in 10kg boxes and 4kg trays.

Speak to your exporter regarding special needs.

For further information on the Summerfruit industry, please click here.